From fashion shows to photoshoots: How one Cal Poly student is transforming makeup artistry on campus and beyond

Brushes, palettes, pencils and sponges scatter around interdisciplinary studies sophomore Sasha Hopewell’s desk, where she spends her time sitting and concentrating on making the perfect diagonal line. The slightest smudge ruins the entire art and forces her to wipe everything off and start over. Her face is a canvas where she can portray a concept through the look of her eyes.

Hopewell is this year’s makeup director for the annual fashion show held by partnering clubs Fashion Student Innovations, Trendsetting and Styling (FITS) and Sustainable Fashion Club (SFC). In previous years, the fashion show lacked a makeup team, with designers and models applying their own makeup in ways that would fit their collection and blend with the show’s theme.

“I’ve always been really into clothes, and the kind of second piece to elevate a look would be the makeup,” Hopewell said.

Hopewell took it upon herself to create a team of 10 student makeup artists for this year’s “Symbiosis” fashion show and lead as the makeup director, where she will be facilitating and assisting the artists in fulfilling the themes of nine different designers’ collections for the show through their models’ makeup.

“I’ve always described makeup to be my favorite art medium and I love all sorts of art in general,” Hopewell said. “I need anything creative. I loved the idea [and] the way I could express myself through my makeup and my clothing.”

Hopewell began exploring this art medium when she was in the sixth grade, where she was drawn to the idea of being able to elevate her sense of style and self-expression through makeup.

Instead of having an awkward middle school phase where she tried to fit in, Hopewell confidently walked through the hallways of adolescents without a care of the looks she could get.

“I would wear a lot of really funny, funky outfits and lots of interesting makeup. My mom would always call it my David Bowie makeup,” Hopewell said. “I went to a really small school so no one was mean or anything. I could be fully expressive in how I wanted to be and I just did lots of colors and lines and I had, like, crazy makeup all throughout middle school.”

Finding this confidence through the use of makeup, Hopewell dedicated more time to it as she grew. She joined theater tech under the hair and makeup department during her freshman and sophomore years of high school, where she learned how to do old-age makeup for plays like “Arsenic and Old Lace.” 

She competed in the annual California State Thespian Festival under the theatre makeup category, where contestants redesigned makeup looks from a musical of their choosing. 

Hopewell chose the 1984 musical “Starlight Express,” drew out the makeup looks on paper and recreated them on her face, which she said she believes was what set her apart from the other contestants and led her to place first in the competition.

This was a monumental moment for Hopewell, as she was catapulted into the idea of pursuing makeup as a career.

Hopewell has found film and television media to inspire her work, specifically the HBO Max series “Euphoria.”

Doniella Davy, the series’ makeup department head, intentionally used specific eyeliners, eyeshadows, glitter and gems to express cast personalities and growth throughout the series. Although the looks fell into trend culture throughout 2020-2022, there were deeper meanings behind Davy’s use of makeup for the characters on the show. 

For actor Barbie Ferreira, who played Kat Hernandez in “Euphoria,” Davy switched up Kat’s Season One grungy makeup style with the use of bright colors and designs, like glittery turquoise eyeshadow and glossy lips, in Season Two, as shown on Davy’s Instagram.

“[‘Euphoria’s producer Sam Levinson] challenged me to bring a playful freshness to Kat’s makeup,” Davy said in her Instagram post. “I interpreted this as Kat still being kind of new to wearing makeup, and still very much using it to help figure out who she wants to be.”

“Euphoria” further pulled Hopewell into how her face and others’ could be used as a canvas. Reading into Davy’s creative thought process behind each and every look helped Hopewell visualize and understand the process of working in film and television media.    

“A range of pop culture has just kind of been in my world forever. I really like flamboyant makeup, like performance makeup, and big bright things,” Hopewell said. 

Understanding the complexities of makeup and considering certain characters, themes and clothing when creating a specific makeup look opened up a new creative realm to Hopewell: editorial makeup.

Throughout 2019 and 2020, Hopewell and a hometown photographer friend, Elinor Kry, began to collaborate. Kry and Hopewell worked together for about five different photoshoots where they emphasized makeup and fashion.

Kry has now worked with artists like Lil Yachty, Madison Beer and The Japanese House, and she has had her work published in publications like i-D Magazine and Nylon Magazine, according to her website.

“It was a huge part of my journey, as I got to learn the industry side of [editorial makeup] and made my visions come to life,” Hopewell said.

Photographers, creative directors, models, stylists, designers and hair and makeup artists all collaborate in the process of editorial photography. Joining FITS as an event planner for the 2023-2024 academic year opened further opportunities for Hopewell to work in a team and strengthen her skills.

During March 2024, FITS held a photoshoot where Hopewell and a creative director, photographer and designer collectively worked together to fulfill the theme, “Forces of Nature.”

“There are so many moving parts to a photo shoot,” Hopewell said. “It takes different types of collaboration and a mutual respect for each other’s art and I’ve learned so many more makeup skills along the way.”

One of Hopewell’s favorite looks for the “Forces of Nature” shoot was her interpretation of the creative director’s concept of a cocoon breaking free to become a butterfly.

Graphic design freshman Zoe Harris, the stylist for the photoshoot, used a hand-knitted balaclava made by recent forestry and natural resource graduate Sophie Kroesche to represent the transformation of a cocoon into a butterfly. Harris also styled the model in all muted tones to blend with the natural environment that surrounded them.

Hopewell used a bright orange tone for eyeshadow and added teal and purple dots around the model’s face. She then stuffed saran wrap inside the balaclava with a hole for the mouth, not only to let the model breathe but also to portray the idea of a butterfly breaking free from a cocoon. 

“It’s one of my favorite shoots that I have done, as I got to implement other materials,” Hopewell said. “Everyone was kind of like, ‘Sasha I don’t know about this’ and I was just like, ‘Let my vision come to life for a second, like I think it’s going to be cool.’ Then they started clicking away and they were like, ‘Oh wait, this is cool,’ so that was fun. It was nice to get that reassurance after they have been wary of my idea because it is a little out there.”

Learning how to share her art with all kinds of models has given Hopewell a greater understanding of how to collaborate with other people. How every person’s face isn’t the same, whether that be the shape of their eyes, mouth or nose, a makeup artist considers differences to accentuate their models in their unique way. 

“I’ve learned so many more makeup skills along the way. I’m still learning so much every day and that’s why I’m going to London because I have so much more that I know I can learn,” Hopewell said.

Since January, Hopewell has spent every morning checking her phone as soon as she woke up, scrolling through emails in hopes of finally hearing back about a lifelong dream. On April 8, this consistent wary feeling switched to shock. Hopewell woke up to an email from the London College of Fashion saying she was accepted to their Hair and Makeup for Fashion program that will begin in September 2024. She will be abroad for the entire academic year in a world filled with like-minded aspiring artists.

“It still honestly does not feel real,” Hopewell said. “The shock has not worn off. I have not fully processed that that’s my life because it really is like a dream.”

The annual spring FITS and SFC fashion show will be held on May 19 at the Chumash Auditorium starting at 5 p.m. Take a look into the “Symbiosis” theme as 41 Cal Poly students in seven teams — including Hopewell’s makeup team — bring a runway show to the Cal Poly campus and give 25 student designers a creative platform to showcase their designs.